Book Description:

Dahlia, a centuries-old genie, lies hopelessly trapped in a damaged golden locket charm attached to an ankle bracelet. Its owner, sixteen-year-old Liana, wears it for the first time during her father Jamison’s opening night illusion spectacular. Not only does its presence cause Jamison to folly his performance, but it also starts a chain of bizarre events that lead to a showdown with Dahlia’s mortal enemy, Stefan, and an unsuspecting romance between Liana and his son.

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My Review

I chose to read this book after receiving a free copy. All opinions in this review are my own and completely unbiased.

Tribal Affairs has two stories. One is about Liana who is 16 and lives with her father, a magician who is closing in on the end of an amazing career. The other is about Dahlia, a genie who lives in a locket that Liana has on a chain around her ankle.

Dahlia’s story is told mostly through Liana’s dreams. As the dreams progress, at some point Liana realizes that they’re not dreams but something more. Visions? Memories? Each story is told from Liana or Dahlia’s point of view and it works well until the very end. It got a bit confusing at the end.

This story contains some vivid descriptions and I like the author’s writing style. I did have a little trouble, however, toward the end. There was a lot of action and I couldn’t tell what was real and what wasn’t or who was doing what. It all came out okay in the end though, I’m just not positive on how we got there.

I recommend Tribal Affairs to anyone who likes fantasy and I look forward to reading more by this author.

Meet the Author:

Matt Dallmann has a background in acting and holds a BFA from Marymount Manhattan College in New York City. His films and screenplays have been featured at film festivals across the United States including Cinequest, Big Apple Film Festival, Seattle’s True Independent Film Festival, DragonCon and Zero Independent Film Festival. His piano compositions have been published for commercial use and he is a member of ASCAP. Matt is also the Co-Founder and Vice President of the boutique medical billing firm VGA Billing Services, Inc. in New York City. He lives in New Jersey with his wife and two daughters.